Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well ive owned my baby for just over a month, i've got to say its been the most fun month of bass playing i have had ever.
However i'm going to say two things that before buying the ric i never thought i would say.
Firstly, i LOVE the ric bridge, i had spent many hours on the forum before buying a ric and had noticed the sheer amount of people that had problems with the rick bridge. People with bad tail life, broken mutes and most of all a lack of being able to ajust things easily.
I love to, and enjoy, tweeking my basses and guitar, to make them just right, i thought the bridge might have been an issue.
Supprisingly i love it, i found it so easy to get the bass set up exacily as i wanted it, sure it takes time ajusting it, but for me this just encouraged me not to rush things.
Personaly i love the feel of a big hunk of metal at the end of my strings.

The second thing is i no longer feel like i have any use for my Fender Jaguar.
Before the rick i had spent many months tweeking and modding the Jag, and i thought i had found the perfect bass with the perfect sound and feel. however as soon as i played the rick, i realised that the ric stock beat the fender in every aspect.
I tried to play the Jag yesterday, but the neck felt like a broom handle, and the action that i thought was great before, now feels ****.
I have now put a set of flats on it, and it has been put aside for jazz and more mellow stuff.
This ric really has turned my musical life around.
Heres my wife, and now ex-wife :

Welcome to the establishment James!

Usually just takes patience and TLC to set them up right.

I've got a 4001 that was setup over two years ago and hasn't needed an adjustment since. I need to double check the intonation since it has been a while, but usually, once you've setup the bridge, it lasts for a long time.

You have been assimilated.

Congrats on your Rick bass. You picked a good one and its nice to see somebody else that didn't give up on the Rick tail/bridge. They aren't as good as they could be, but with a little effort they'll usually work.

I have a question...Your Fender Jaguar is a cool looking bass, but what do all those switches and dials do?

I picked one up once at my local GC and thought: "Hmmm my two pickup Jazz bass has two volumes and a tone..." Yours has two knobs, three switches on the lower horn, two rotary dial thingies up high, and... Is there another switch up there?

What gives?!

So many people are confused by Jaguar wiring. Just think of it as two different basses in one. It has two parallel universes of tone, selected by the slide switch on the upper horn. There are two end-wheel pots on the upper horn as well, which select tone and volume for the second circuit. Primary circuit duties are covered by the two knobs on the lower trim plate. The three-switch panel on the lower horn is merely a styling thang--each of two switches selects a pickup on or off, and the rear or right-most one selects a tone cap to thin out the sound.

Makes perfect sense to both of my brains!

Makes perfect sense to both of my brains!

I have a Jaguar bass (the sunburst Japan market finish). It is likely the only Fender bass I will ever buy. I got it mainly for the active & passive electronics and pickup switching options. I believe the lower 3 switches also allow to you change the pickup wiring to series or parallel as well.
I miss not having a blend pot. or those wonderful separate volume controls my Rics have. My Rics are #1, but I can still see a spot for the Jag - as of today.

Thanks for the control briefing.

So they aren't a bunch of dummy switches then!

I'm the kind of dummy who actually uses them.

My brief above was based on Jag geetar switching. The switches on the bass are slightly different in function, but the bass-ic idea of two separate circuits still stands.

Ahhh, the Nintendo game controller of the bass world.

s4001 wrote:You have been assimilated.

Resistance is futile.

Or around 13 kΩ ...

yeh i think you guys summed up the wireing. it is a lovely bass, and pretty versitile. i love the switches for both the look and the different tonal options they give me, but they are also in the way when i play, many times have i accidently switched from passive to active, or even turned pickups off, mid song. this realy started getting to me as the passive and active circuits have quite a big volume difference so could make embarassing volume changes.
Don't get me wrong, its a lovley bass, and always gets comments, but hey so does a deep blue ric with black trim. However the ric has won my heart now. It does everything the jag does, and more.

...and without any active electronics, either!

yeh, i hate active electronics. Never realy used them on the jag.
OH by the way, i tried doing the vintage tone mod with a normal switch hidden in the treble pickup cover. i dont realy think the slight difference in sound warrents it so im going to take it out. however the one thing i have noticed since i fitted it is thatthere is a noticable staticy groundy hum when i am not touching the strings. this didnt seem to be there before i did the mod, i take it this is just my bad soldering and not irraversable dammage. i would hate to have caused a hum that wasn't there before!!!